"The strip of sea that the English call the Channel and the French call the Sleeve is, quite simply, the most fascinating piece of water in the world. The globe's busiest seaway, the Channel is a stormy passage that remains a wild frontier between, two closely related peoples who, by long tradition, detest each other's manners and phiiosophy.

Nigel Calder, whose informative, witty books have explained the mysteries of science to millions of readers, here embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of a body of water extraordinarily rich in natural and historical interest, an 'untidy museum,' touching on everything from geology and archaeology, history and politics, to navigational principles and the lore of the sea. His is a tour that slips through the boundaries of time: each stretch of coastline evokes a theme that may be prehistoric, ultramodern, or something in-between, from the cross-Channel invasion of 1066 to that of 1944, from the first airborne crossing by hydrogen balloon in 1785 to present-day plans for an underwater tunnel linking England to the Continent.

Offering unlimited opportunities for trading and smuggling, for piracy and conquest, the Channel has been the setting for events that shaped our world. But man's actions are always balanced by the sea itself, and Calder shows how the forces of nature — changes in the coastlines, the treacherous tides and impartial winds — have had a profound effect on the fates ot nations, As he traces the changes in the Channel over the centuries, Calder offers a unique view of such events as the collapse of the Roman Empire, the development of European trading rivalries, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the games of hide-and-seek that British, French, Russian, and American submarines play there today.

Geologists, marine scientists, and historians have all mined the Channel's rich remnants of past glories and disasters. In a charming and engaging synthesis of their findings and his own observations, Calder has written his most unusual work ever, a virtual 'biography' of the world's most celebrated waters. " - from the dj.

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